Panaji: Amidst rising debate on merging Maharashtra’s Dodamarg area into Goa, State Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that he is not in favour of such merger.
A section of population from Dodamarg district of Maharashtra, bordering the state, have raised the demand of merging their territory in Goa.
The opposition parties in the state including Goa Forward Party and Congress had sought Chief Minister’s statement on the issue.
“There may be discussions on the issue but I am not in support of merging Dodamarg in the state of Goa,” Sawant told reporters on Saturday.
He said that Goa and Maharashtra has certain cultural differences and there can not be any merger. “There is no question of merger at all,” Sawant stated.
The Chief Minister said that welfare of Goa and its people is his priority and the local population should not be worried that additional areas would be added to the state.
GFP President Vijai Sardesai on Friday had claimed that Sawant has been accused of buying huge tracts of lands at Dodamarg because of which the latter was supporting the merger.
Admitting that he has purchased a property at Dodamarg, the chief minister said that he has legally bought it as the land owner wanted to sell it off.
“I have purchased 21,000 square metres of land at Dodamarg which is in my name. If I had anything to hide, then I would not have purchased it in my name,” he said.
Sawant said that “some people who were involved in land dealings in Goa were behind such allegations.”
